Systems and methods implementing frequency-steered acoustic arrays for 2D and 3D imaging

ABSTRACT

Acoustic arrays transmitting and/or receiving multiple, angularly dispersed acoustic beams are used to generate 2D and 3D images. The acoustic arrays may comprise frequency-steered acoustic arrays provided in one-dimensional linear and two dimensional planar and curvilinear configurations, which may be operated as single order or multiple order arrays, may employ periodic or non-periodic transducer element spacing, and may be mechanically scanned to generate 2D and 3D volumetric data. Methods and systems for operating acoustic arrays in a frequency-steered mode in combination a mechanical beam steering mode, electronic time-delay and phase shift beam forming modes, and phase comparison angle estimation modes are also provided. Methods for generating two and three dimensional images of underwater target scenes using multi-beam acoustic imaging systems are disclosed.

REFERENCE TO PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/030,043, filed Feb. 12, 2008, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/889,406, filed Jul. 12, 2004, which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/485,981 filed Jul. 11,2003 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/549,111 filed Mar. 1, 2004.These patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods and systems implementingfrequency-steered acoustic arrays that are particularly useful for 2Dand 3D sonar and ultrasound device imaging systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Traditional methods for forming and steering beams produced by an arrayof acoustic transducers involve phased or time-delayed acoustic pulsesand require that each stave of the array be sampled as a separatehardware channel. Although this approach may produce effective,high-resolution imaging systems, it also requires substantial supportelectronics for each hardware channel, which increases the expense,size, weight, and power requirements of the system.

The radar community has used frequency to position beams using afrequency scanning radar technique. This technique employs delay linesin an antenna array that provide appropriate phase shifts so that thefrequency determines the steering angle of the array's main beam.Frequency-steered beamforming systems have also be used in sonar systemswith phase shifting electronics and multi-channel acoustic arrays. Thesesystems use specific array designs and broadband pulses to map angularimaging information into the frequency domain. The beamformer for such asystem may be designed around time-frequency (e.g. spectrogram, wigner)or time-scale (e.g. wavelets) decomposition data processing techniques.This approach allows multiple independent beams to be simultaneouslyformed using a single hardware channel.

Frequency-steered acoustic systems use angular spectral dispersionanalogous to the dispersion of light incident on a prism or adiffraction grating to form spatially distinct beams. In the field ofoptics, diffraction gratings may be designed to take advantage of aunique set of discrete angles along which, for a given spacing d betweenfacets, the waves diffracted from each facet are in phase with the wavesdiffracted from any other facet and the waves therefore combinecoherently. The classical transmission grating equation is as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{{\theta(\lambda)} = {\arcsin\left\lbrack \frac{m\;\lambda}{d} \right\rbrack}},} & (1)\end{matrix}$Where m is the “order” or number of wavelengths, λ, between the facets.

For a given grating design defined by the variables m and d, Equation(1) provide the mapping between angle and frequency. In a blazeddiffraction grating, the individual facets are rotated away from thegeneral plane of the array by some groove angle χ. Several importantaspects of a diffraction grating with respect to a frequency-steeredsystem are noted when θ, the angle between the beam and a plane normalto the plane of the grating is plotted versus wavelength for m=−2, −1,0, 1, and 2. First, the zero order is frequency-independent and is realfor all frequencies. Because the zero order beam is not steered as afunction of frequency, this beam has been used in conventional systems,where the beams are steered with phase shifts or time-delays. However,this frequency-independent zero order beam is typically not useful in afrequency-steered system and therefore must be suppressed so that itwill not produce ambiguous responses.

The first negative and first positive order beams enter the visibleregion (−90° to 90°) from what is commonly called the ‘end-fire’orientation (perpendicular to the array normal) at λ/d=1. As frequencyis increased, the first order beams are joined by the second order beamsan octave higher in frequency, at λ/d=0.5. At all angles in between −90°and 90°, the first and second order beams are separated by one octave ofspectral bandwidth. The second order beams may create ambiguities ifmore than one octave of spectral bandwidth is used.

The classical transmission grating equation is the fundamentalfrequency-steered acoustic beamforming equation. A simplefrequency-steered beamforming and processing system is illustratedschematically in FIG. 1. From left to right, the diagram shows the flowof a broadband acoustic pulse 12 produced by a pulse generator andcomposed of acoustic beams having a range of frequencies f₀ . . . f_(n).The electrical signal output from broadband pulse 12 is input to anacoustic beamformer composed of projector electronics 14 and afrequency-steered array 16. The acoustic array is designed to produce afrequency-dispersed sound field 18 having a known, nonlinearrelationship between angular space (θ) and frequency f given by Eq. (1).In this way, a broadband signal containing many acoustic frequencies issent into a frequency-steered array and emerges as a set of acousticbeams having different angular directions depending on frequency.

The frequency-dispersed sound field 18 from blazed array 16 interactswith the ambient environment and/or a target 20 and a backscattered,frequency dispersed sound field 22 is incident upon a receiver array 24,formed as a frequency-steered array, and receiver electronics 26 and isrecombined into a broadband signal 28. Thus, reflected signals arereceived from the same angle they were transmitted and are recombined bythe frequency-steered array to form a single broadband receive signal.Analog and digital processing techniques may then be applied to thebroadband signal to separate out the frequencies and create and displayan image similar to that of medical ultrasound systems.

One system for frequency-steering an acoustic sound field employs a“blazed array” having active faces of acoustic elements arranged at anangle from the general plane of the array. U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,617describes a sonar system employing a blazed acoustic array including aplurality of stepped acoustic elements formed in an echelon array, withadjacent acoustic elements being displaced from one another. The blazedarrays described in the '617 patent are first order (m=1) arrays, havinga single wavelength spacing between facets. The disclosure recognizesthat higher-order and multi-order modes could be designed.

The simplest implementation of the blazed array and time-frequencybeamforming is in a single channel 2D imaging sonar system. Datacollected using a single channel blazed array and a spectrogram-basedbeamformer is presented in R. L. Thompson et al., “Two Dimensional andThree Dimensional Imaging Results Using Blazed Arrays,” IEEE Oceans 2001proceedings, pp. 985-988, vol. 2. This publication also describes ablazed array implementation in combination with conventional arraydesign and beamforming techniques to produce 3D volumetric imaging. One3D configuration employed a blazed array oriented vertically and flownhorizontally to create a horizontal synthetic aperture. Several viewsrendered from 3D blazed synthetic aperture sonar data set are presented.Both the 2D and 3D systems were implemented with a single hardwarechannel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods and systems of the present invention employ frequency-steeredacoustic arrays and time-frequency signal analysis to provide acousticimaging systems that produce multiple, angularly dispersed beams steeredwith frequency. These frequency-steered systems may be implemented withdata processing techniques to generate a 2D image using a singlehardware channel because the frequency-steered array effectivelymultiplexes the beam signals into separate frequency channels. If thefrequency-steered array technique is used in conjunction withconventional array design and beamforming techniques, a 3D acousticimaging system may be implemented using the same number of hardwarechannels that would be required for a conventional 2D system. Thesesystems operate at the same data rate because the bandwidth of thereduced number of hardware channels increases to carry the extra spatialinformation. A frequency-steered array imaging system can thus collectan entire image with a single transmission, providing high resolutionimages at high frame rates and requiring low imaging scene stability.

Using frequency-steered arrays to produce 2D and/or 3D images in a sonarsystem implementation provides a number of advantages. First, becausethe frequency-steered array generates multiple beams using a singlebroadband signal, the amount of analog electronics required to producean image is significantly reduced compared to that of traditionalimaging sonar. By reducing the electronics required, the imaging sonaris significantly smaller, less expensive, and requires less power thantraditional imaging sonar. Another advantage to using frequency-steeredarrays in imaging sonar is that they are able to produce high qualityimages even in shallow waters. Traditional small sonar devices transmitand receive using a narrow frequency band, often with a relatively broadbeam. In shallow water, these broad beam signals tend to be reflectedfrom many surfaces and create what is commonly referred to as multi-pathinterference. These multi-path signals return from multiple directions(from the same target) and result in cluttered, confusing sonar images.Because a frequency-steered imaging system can generate many narrowbeams in both transmit and receive modes, the system is less susceptibleto multi-path signals and performs much better than conventional sonardevices in shallow water environments.

Imaging methods and systems of the present invention preferably utilizea broadband acoustic pulse as an input signal to a frequency-steeredacoustic array having an order of m=½, m=¼, m=⅛ or m=1/n in a singleorder array, or a combination of one or more of these orders in amultiple order array. The broadband pulse may be an FM pulse, ascale-swept wavelet pulse train, a multi-wavelet, a multi-frequencypulse, pseudo-random, appended or overlapped series of sub-pulsesmatched to the array's scaled aperture function, or another type ofbroadband acoustic pulse. The broadband acoustic pulse preferablydelivers generally equivalent energy to each of the frequency-steeredbeams generated.

Frequency-steered acoustic arrays may be constructed from variousmaterials and provided in various configurations. Suitable acoustictransducers may be constructed from conventional piezoelectric materialssuch as lead zirconium titanate (PZT), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)and other materials, and may be constructed using a variety ofconventional technologies, including microelectromechanical systems(MEMS) technology and techniques. The acoustic transducer arrays may beprovided in a single layer or multiple acoustic transducer layers may bestacked to form multiple layers. Because the frequency-steeringtechnique uses a portion of the system's bandwidth to provide angularresolution, transducer technologies that provide broad bandwidthfunction will provide larger fields of view. Suitable acoustictransducer array materials and methods of construction are well known inthe art.

The acoustic arrays may be provided as one dimensional “linear” arrayshaving essentially a single row or column of elements in a flat orcurved configuration. Two dimensional “planar” arrays in which multiplerows and columns of elements are provided in a generally flatarrangement having a variety of configurations, such as circular, oval,square, rectangular and other polygonal configurations, may also beused. Two dimensional curvilinear arrays having multiple rows and/orcolumns of elements arranged in cylindrical, partially cylindrical,conical, partially conical and other curved configurations, are alsoemployed in the methods and systems of the present invention.

The acoustic transducer arrays are electrically connected to anelectronics structure that provides a common connection for multipleelements and communication with transmit and/or receiver control systemsand electronics. The electronics structure may be provided integrallywith the acoustic transducer elements or separately from butelectrically connected to the array elements. This structure may beimplemented in analog or digital form and in conjunction with analog ordigital components to provide array shading, fixed or variable phaseshifting or time delay, switching interconnections between electronicschannels and element sets, signal amplification, or other functions. Itis noted that when we refer to a “frequency-steered” or“frequency-steerable” array, we generally mean both the array ofacoustic transducer elements and the associated electronics structurethat, in combination, are capable of frequency-steering an inputacoustic pulse.

Frequency-steered arrays may be implemented in transmit and/or receivemodes and imaging systems of the present invention may utilizefrequency-steered arrays exclusively. A “two-way beam pattern advantage”is realized when acoustic signals are transmitted and received onidentical, collocated arrays. In this situation, the beam width isreduced to provide better resolution and the side lobes are reduced toprovide reduced interference levels. Alternatively, imaging systems ofthe present invention may incorporate a frequency-steered array incombination with another non-frequency-steered acoustic array ortransducer. In one embodiment, a frequency-steered array may be orientedin the same plane as a conventional array or, more preferably, afrequency-steered array may be oriented orthogonal to a conventionalarray. In one exemplary embodiment, a short-vertical frequency-steeredarray sweeps beams through the vertical dimension, and a long thinconventional acoustic array is used as a receiver. This system provides3D imaging capability and is well-suited to side-scanning sonarapplications.

Frequency-steered arrays of the present invention, including onedimensional linear arrays, two dimensional planar arrays, twodimensional cylindrical curvilinear arrays, two dimensional conicalcurvilinear arrays and two dimensional stacked conical curvilineararrays may be operated as “shaded” or “unshaded” arrays. In a “shaded”array, a reduction in signal amplitude is applied moving from the centertoward the outer elements of the array. Shading has the effect ofreducing side lobe levels in the array's beam pattern. Alternatively,frequency-steered arrays of the present invention may be operated in anunshaded mode in which equivalent amplitude signals are applied to thearray elements. Shading may be implemented through analog or digitalcomponents and by spatially varying the size of the individual elements.

As described above, the variable m of Equation (1) gives the ‘order’ ofthe array. This is the number or fraction of coherent wavelengthsbetween two consecutive elements of the array at spacing d. FIGS. 2A-Dillustrate the concept of the array order in periodic arrays and FIGS.3A-D show the horizontal beam patterns produced using the differentorder “periodic” arrays having equivalent spacing or phasing betweenadjacent elements. FIG. 2A illustrates two elements of a “blazed” arrayhaving an m=1 design using element spacing d on the order of 1wavelength, with each of the elements rotated away from the generalplane of the array by a blaze angle. The individual beam patternsproduced by each element of the array are narrow enough that therotation of the element causes the mirror image lobe at −45° and thebroadside lobe at 0° to be suppressed, as seen in FIG. 3A. FIG. 2Billustrates an m=½ blazed array design using element spacing d on theorder of ½ wavelength and employing both alternating polarity phasingand element rotation. As shown in FIG. 3B, the alternating polarityphasing suppresses the broadside lobe at 0° and the element rotationsuppresses the mirror image lobe at −45°. This m=½ array design maytypically be implemented with electronics using a single hardwarechannel.

FIG. 2C illustrates an m=¼ array design using element spacing d on theorder of ¼ wavelength, which employs element phasing and does not employelement rotation. The phasing alone suppresses the ambiguous mirrorimage and broadside lobes. The horizontal beam pattern produced by thisarray is shown in FIG. 3C. This design provides improved suppression,but at the expense of requiring electronics for at least two hardwarechannels. FIG. 2D shows an m=⅛ array design having element spacing d onthe order of ⅛ wavelength. As shown in FIG. 3D, the m=⅛ design providesgood ambiguous lobe suppression with no element rotation, but it alsoshifts the location of the main lobe to a position closer to 0°. Thisshift of the main lobe can be used to advantage by combining two ordersto create a larger angular field of view using the same band offrequencies. The periodic frequency-steered arrays having orders m=¼,m=⅛, more generally m=1/n employed in the methods and systems of thepresent invention generally operate using fixed, though optionallyselectable phase shifts between adjacent array elements.

Horizontal beam patterns for an unshaded order m=½ blazedfrequency-steered array design having a blaze angle of 45° are shown inFIG. 4. The beam patterns for this frequency-steered array are shown forthree frequencies: 300 kHz (solid line); 390 kHz (longer dashed line);and 480 kHz (shorter dashed line). The m=½ design is a particularlyuseful implementation because, as discussed above, in an even numberedarray the balance of positive and negative phases across the arraynullifies the zero-order beam. Also, when selecting the frequency bandfor a frequency-steered system, it is important to select a band offrequencies which do not excite more than one lobe in the array's beampattern. This can generate multiple ambiguous returns from the multipleactive lobes.

The principal peaks (beams) in an acoustic radiation pattern have afinite width determined by the resolving power of the grating or array.The angular width Δθ₀ at the half-power levels (−3 dB from principalmaximum) of the principal maximum for a linear, unshaded array of Nelements steered about the array normal by an angle θ is given by theEquation:

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\;\theta_{0}} = {\frac{\lambda}{{Nd}\;\cos\;\theta}.}} & (2)\end{matrix}$Eq. (2) demonstrates that the resolution of an array is independent ofthe order m and is based solely on the ratio of the wavelength λ to theaperture length Nd and the angle of the beam θ. The quantity Nd cos θcan be treated as the effective aperture encountered by the wave frontarriving from angle θ. The resolution can therefore be expressed as thereciprocal of the number of wavelengths spanning the effective aperture.As the angle of incidence increases, the effective aperture decreasesand the resolution declines. Changing the steering angle or thefrequency in a frequency-steered array changes the beam width and hencechanges the resolution. The horizontal beam patterns shown in FIG. 4demonstrate that the beam widths decrease for the m=½ array as the mainbeam is frequency-steered from 45° to 27°. In fact, the beam widthchanges by a factor of almost two as the beam is swept over this range.This resolution change must be taken into account when implementing afrequency-steered system.

In one embodiment, frequency-steered arrays of the present inventionproduce two or more imaging fields of view in different directions. Byselecting appropriate transmit signals, receive electronics and dataprocessing routines, two or more imaging fields can either be activatedsimultaneously, or one at a time when only one field of view isrequired. In an m=¼ order array, for example, two fields of view may besimultaneously generated in a transmit mode in directions symmetricabout the array normal by electrically connecting the 0° and 90° arrayelements together and the 180° and 270° array elements together anddriving them with a 180° phase shift or with a +/− polarity. In thisembodiment, the array has the same number of + and − phases, and thebeam normal to the array is canceled. Alternatively, each of the fourarray elements (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°) may be wired together, with theability to reverse the polarity of the 90° and 270° elements to −90° and−270° (i.e. interchange the 90° and 270° elements) to allow operation ina transmit mode on one of the fields of view at a time. The receivearray may be similarly configured to select for received fields of vieweither alternately or simultaneously.

Single or multiple imaging fields of view generated using afrequency-steered array may be combined with the fields of view from oneor more additional arrays to create larger continuous or non-continuousfields of view. Two frequency-steered arrays may be arranged in an‘X-configuration’ in which the two arrays are arranged in the same planeat a fixed angle to one another to provide a continuous, larger field ofview. Alternatively, two frequency-steered arrays may be arranged in a‘T-configuration’ in which the two arrays are arranged in generallyorthogonal planes, having the array faces aligned at a fixed angle toone another to provide combined vertical and horizontal imaginginformation.

Acoustic transducer element spacing is referred to as “periodic” whenthe distance and/or phase shift between neighboring array elements issubstantially constant. Methods and systems of the present invention mayalso employ aperiodic acoustic arrays in which the distance and/or phaseshift between neighboring array elements is not constant. Matched filterbanks, for example, may be designed and used to provide appropriatespatial filtering for aperiodic frequency-steered arrays. Arrays may beaperiodically spaced in a spatially ‘frequency-modulated’ pattern (e.g.continuously differing spacing along the array), or in a spatially‘frequency hopped’ pattern (e.g. different spacing along differentsections of the array), or in an arbitrary or pseudo-random spacingconfiguration. Such arrays may advantageously resolve ambiguitiesbetween signals arriving from different angles symmetric about thebroadside axis of the array and are described in greater detail below.

Time-frequency signal analysis is used to decompose a frequency-steeredarray signal to produce images. After a pulse has been transmitted,reflected from the target, and received, the beam signals are decomposedfrom the broadband signal. A frequency-steered imaging system isdesigned, ideally, to create an unambiguous mapping between theradiation or reception angle and the frequency domain of a signal, whilethe range information is mapped into the time domain. In the receivingmode, the goal is to process the signal so as to recover the maximumamount of angular and range imaging information from the receivedsignal.

Frequency-steerable acoustic arrays may be operated in afrequency-steered mode in combination with another beam steering or beamforming mode, such as conventional mechanical beam steering modes,conventional electronic time-delay and phase shift beam forming modes,and phase comparison angle estimation modes. 2D and 3D acoustic imagingsystems may be implemented using combined techniques to increase imagequality and create 3D imaging systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of frequency-steered acousticarray system and beamformer for generating an image.

FIGS. 2A-2D illustrates four frequency-steered array designs withprogressively decreasing orders. FIG. 2A illustrates an m=1 arraydesign; FIG. 2B illustrates an m=½ array design; FIG. 2C illustrates anm=¼ array design; and FIG. 2D illustrates an m=⅛ array design.

FIGS. 3A-3D show the horizontal beam patterns formed by thefrequency-steered array designs illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2D,respectively.

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary horizontal beam patterns formed by anunshaded, order m=½ frequency-steered array having a blaze angle of 45°,plotted for frequencies of 300 kHz (solid line), 390 kHz (long dashedline) and 480 kHz (short dashed line).

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate two exemplary electronics configurations foran m=½ frequency-steered array.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate two exemplary electronics configurations foran m=¼ frequency-steered array.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary spatially ‘frequency-hopped’ aperiodicacoustic array configuration.

FIGS. 8A-8C schematically illustrate exemplary element arrangements formulti-order frequency-steered arrays.

FIGS. 9A-D illustrate an exemplary single field of view sonarimplementation using a single, frequency-steered array of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 shows a schematic block diagram for the sonar system of FIGS.9A-9D.

FIGS. 11A-D schematically illustrate an exemplary dual field of viewsonar implementation providing both forward looking and downward lookingcapability using a single, frequency-steered array of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 12A-D schematically illustrate an exemplary implementationincorporating two frequency-steered arrays arranged in anX-configuration to provide an overlapping, wide field of view.

FIG. 13A schematically illustrates fields of view produced by a single,multi-order array (m=¼, m=⅛) and FIG. 13B illustrates the fields of viewgenerated by the combination of two multi-order arrays in anX-configuration.

FIGS. 14A-D schematically illustrate exemplary implementations ofmultiple frequency-steered arrays arranged in a T-configuration,providing imaging information in two dimensions.

FIGS. 15A-D schematically illustrate an exemplary multi-arrayimplementation incorporating two frequency-steered arrays arranged in anX-configuration and providing an overlapping, wide field of view in oneorientation and two fields of view in an orthogonal orientation.

FIGS. 16A-F schematically illustrate the combination of variousfrequency-steered arrays and frequency-steered array assemblies withmechanical steering mechanisms to produce various 2D and 3D imagingfields.

FIGS. 17A-D schematically illustrate an exemplary single field of viewtwo-dimensional circular array aligned on a plane canted from thevertical axis and rotationally scanned to generate a 3D volumetric dataset.

FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary combination of frequency-steered andconventional time-delay beamformed 3D imaging implementation using atwo-dimensional planar rectangular array.

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary combination of frequency-steered andconventionally beamformed (phase shift or time delay) 3D imagingimplementation using a conical curvilinear array.

FIGS. 20A-D schematically illustrate an exemplary array designimplementing a two-dimensional curvilinear array having a truncated coneconfiguration frequency-steered and conventionally beamformed togenerate a 3D volumetric data set.

FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplary dual conical curvilinear array assemblythat combines frequency steering in the vertical dimension andconventional beamforming in the orthogonal (cylindrical) dimension toprovide wide fields of view in both the vertical and horizontaldirections.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Frequency-steered acoustic array systems and methods of the presentinvention utilize a broadband acoustic pulse as an input signal to oneor more frequency-steered arrays that may have periodic or aperiodicspacing or phasing of transducer elements that may be blazed and/orphase shifted, that may be provided in a single order or a multipleorder configuration, and that may be operated in a transmit and/orreceive mode. Multiple frequency-steered acoustic array systems may bearranged in an X- or T-configuration to provide desired fields of view,and selected array configurations may be used in linear and/orrotational mechanical scanning modes to produce a variety of 2D and 3Ddata sets that may be processed to produce 2D and 3D images.

The input pulse to a frequency-steered acoustic array operated in atransmit mode is preferably a broadband pulse such as an FM pulse, ascale-swept wavelet pulse train, a multi-wavelet or multi-frequencypulse, or another broadband pulse. The input pulse preferably deliversequivalent energy to each frequency-steered beam. Appropriate sweepingof the pulse through frequency is important to utilize the array's fullaperture, maintain the narrow band beam signal quality, and reduceinterfering side lobes.

There are also resolution considerations for frequency-steered arrayoutput pulses. Using conventional (zero-order) beamforming techniques ina medium with phase velocity c, the minimum resolution in thepropagation, or ‘range,’ direction is given by the Equation

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\; r} = {\frac{c\;\Delta\;\tau}{2} = {\frac{c}{2\; B}.}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$Some modifications to the classical resolution and grating theory arenecessary, however, for frequency-steered imaging.

There are different ways to calculate the effective parameters of pulseduration and bandwidth. Half-power measures over the entire pulse aregenerally used in conventional acoustic array system design. However,there is a fundamental issue with using this measure if one is using Eq.(3) to calculate range resolution in the case of a frequency-steeredarray system. The frequency-steered array may be viewed as anangle-dependent spectral filter. In other words, it acts as a narrowspectral filter whose properties depend on the angle of incidence.Therefore, for a beam pointed at a given angle of incidence, the arrayfilters out a specific band or a ‘sub-pulse’ from any broadbandtransmitted or received pulse. Using a long frequency modulated (FM)input pulse, the sub-pulses generated by a frequency-steered array areradiated in or received from a different angular direction, and only thebeam's specific band or sub-pulse contributes to range resolution forthat beam. Hence, the half-power measure of the entire pulse incorrectlyestimates a single beam's bandwidth and the resolution which can beachieved on that beam.

For a given angle of incidence, the frequency-steered array filters outa sub-pulse. Only that specific band of the sub-pulse can be used forrange-resolution estimation. One can estimate this bandwidth for afrequency-steered array beam with a maximum at some angle θ by firstassuming that the beam width is sufficiently small, such that the angleversus frequency relationship of Eq. (1) is effectively linear over thespan of a beam. This assumption is an acceptable approximation fornarrow beam (e.g., imaging) applications. The beam pointing angle θ isthen positioned midway between the half-power points on the beam θ⁻ andθ₊. When this midpoint assumption is combined with Eqs. (1) and (2), onefinds the bandwidth B_(f) spanned by the beam at any angle θ to be

$\begin{matrix}{{B_{f}(\theta)} = {\frac{2\; m\; c}{d}{\frac{{\sin(\theta)} - {\sin\left( {\theta - \frac{\tan(\theta)}{2\;{mN}}} \right)}}{{\sin(\theta)}{\sin\left( {\theta - \frac{\tan(\theta)}{2\;{mN}}} \right)}}.}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

Eq. (4) can be substituted into Eq. (3) as the effective bandwidth tocalculate the angle-dependent range resolution for the frequency-steeredarray as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\;{r_{f}(\theta)}} = {\frac{c}{2\;{B_{f}(\theta)}}.}} & (5)\end{matrix}$The effective pulse duration can also be determined using the effectivebandwidth and the sweep rate α given in Hz/sec of the transmit pulse. Ifthe pulse modulation is non-linear in time, then the sweep rate will bea function of angle, the effective pulse duration at each angle is:

$\begin{matrix}{{T_{f}(\theta)} = \frac{B_{f}(\theta)}{\alpha(\theta)}} & (6)\end{matrix}$and the effective spectral resolution at the angle θ is

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\;{\omega_{d}(\theta)}} = {\frac{2\;\pi}{T_{f}(\theta)} = {\frac{2\;\pi\;{\alpha(\theta)}}{B_{f}(\theta)}.}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$Hence, the time-bandwidth product of a beam positioned at θ for a givenfrequency-steered array and transmit pulse combination is

$\begin{matrix}{{{TB}_{f}(\theta)} = {\frac{B_{f}^{2}(\theta)}{\alpha(\theta)}.}} & (8)\end{matrix}$The time-bandwidth product, and hence the resolving power for a beam, ishighly dependent on the sweep rate of the pulse.

One approach to ‘normalizing’ the beams of a frequency-steered arrayimaging system is to design the output pulse such that the ‘sub-pulse’at each angle has a constant TB_(f) product. Each sub-pulse will thenhave the same energy. A pulse with constant sub-pulse energy can begenerated by solving for the sweep rate using Eq. (8) as the pulse isbeing generated to maintain a constant TB_(f). As frequency increases,bandwidth increases, and pulse duration is commensurately decreased.Therefore, in preferred embodiments, the input signal sweep rate is notconstant and the input pulse is a non-linear frequency-modulated pulse.Pulses maintaining a constant TB_(f)=1 can theoretically be processed torecover the full diffraction-limited azimuth resolution as determined byEq. (2) and the full bandwidth-limited range resolution as determined byEq. (5) using matched filters.

As described above, frequency-steered blazed arrays having an order m=½that use both alternating polarity phasing and element rotation areuseful for many 2D imaging applications. Two exemplary electronicsconfigurations for m=½ frequency-steered acoustic arrays operated inboth transmit and receive modes are illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B. Inboth configurations, array 30 is composed of multiple adjacent elements32 spaced from one another by distance d on the order of ½ wavelength.The blaze angle, or the angle of the element face with respect to theplanar orientation of the array, is 45° for both illustrated arrays.Elements 32 are in electrical connection with transmitter and/orreceiver electronics 34, which may be formed integrally with the arrayelements, or may be provided separately from the physical array.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5A, transmitter and/or receiver electronics 34are in electrical communication with transmitter/receiver (TR) switch38, which is in electrical communication with transmitter system 40 andreceiver system 50. Transmitter system 40 comprises a pulse generatorand power amplifier 42 for generating a broadband acoustic pulse.Receiver system 50 comprises a receiver electronics component 52 whichmay incorporate a pre-amplifier, an analog filter and an A/D converterin operable communication with a digital signal processing system 54 andan image display system 56. This is a simplified system that does notprovide phase shifting of the array elements but is capable of producingand/or receiving a frequency-steered beam in a single beam orientation.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5B, transmitter and/or receiver electronics 34are in electrical communication with two TR switches 36 and 38, each ofwhich is in electrical communication with transmitter system 40 andreceiver system 50. Transmitter system 40 comprises a pulse generatorand power amplifier 42 for generating a broadband acoustic pulse and a180° phase shifter for phase shifting transmit signals. In addition to areceiver electronics component 52 comprising, for example, apre-amplifier, an analog filter and an A/D converter in communicationwith a digital signal processing system 54 and an image display system56, receive system 50 also comprises a 180° adder 58 which operates as aphase shifter and differential summer for received signals. This systemprovides phase shifting of the array elements in both transmit andreceive modes and can be implemented to common mode interferencesignals.

Frequency-steered arrays may be extended to many orders m=1/n, where nis any positive or negative number. One particularly useful array designhaving an order m=¼, was described above. This design is attractivebecause it has polarity symmetry (i.e. as many positive as negativefacets), which suppresses the zero order lobe. Element rotation in them=¼ array is unnecessary because the 90° phase shifting suppresses theambiguous symmetric lobe. In addition, because the 90° phase shiftingcontrols the suppression of the ambiguous symmetric lobes, the polarityof the 90° phasing can be changed to switch between suppressing thesymmetric lobes on the either side of the perpendicular. When theopposite symmetric lobe is suppressed, the other side becomes the mainbeam and the field of view is symmetrically switched from one side tothe other. Therefore, the m=¼ array can produce two fields of view whenthe polarity of the 90° phase shifting is switched. The 180° phase canbe created with the electronics using simple devices such asdifferential amplifiers and balanced transformers, or digitally with 4independent drive and receive lines, or some combination of digital andanalog phase shifting.

Two exemplary electronics configurations for m=¼ frequency-steeredacoustic arrays are illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B. In bothconfigurations, array 60 is composed of multiple adjacent elements 62spaced from one another by distance d of ¼ wavelength. Array elements 62are electrically connected to transmitter and/or receiver electronicsstructure 64, which communicates with transmitter and/or receivercontrol systems. The array is not blazed, but frequency-steering isachieved by applying phase differences of 90° to adjacent transducerelements. In both the electronic configurations illustrated in FIGS. 6Aand 6B, the goal is to first create and transmit properly phase-shiftedsignals, and then receive and combine the out-of-phase return signals.In both cases, TR switches are used to isolate high-voltage transmitsignals from the low-voltage receive electronics while transmitting andreceiving using the same array.

In the acoustic array system of FIG. 6A, the transmit system 70 producesthe 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° phase-shifted signals. One way to generatethese phased-signals is to employ a four channel arbitrary pulsegenerator/power amp subsystem. Another way to generate the requiredphased signals is to first use a two channel arbitrary pulsegenerator/power amp subsystem 72 to generate the 0° and 90° degreesignals, and then use appropriate transformers to create the 180° and270° phased signals from these original two signals. In the embodimentof FIG. 6A, for example, a 90° phase shifter 74 and two 180° phaseshifters 76, 78 are used, in combination, to produce 0°, 90°, 180° and270° phase-shifted signals that are controllably fed to neighboringtransducer elements 62 through TR switches 66.

Receive system 80 accepts the 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° phase-shiftedreturn signals and combines them to form a single receive signal. Onemethod of combining these signals through TR switches 66 is to amplifyand digitize all four channels, and then combine them digitally. Anothermethod of combining these signals is to use transformers to combine 180°phase-shifted signals, and then use an analog circuit to combine theresulting 90° phase-shifted signals. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6A,received signals are processed through 180° adders 88 and 90° adder 90before processing in receive electronics component 82 comprising, forexample, a pre-amplifier, an analog filter and an A/D converter, digitalsignal processing system 84 and image display system 86.

In the acoustic array system of FIG. 6B, the 180° phase-shifting istaken out of the transmit and receive electronics subsystems and placedon the array side of the TR switches. In this system, each of the arrayelements 62 communicates with a TR switch 66 through a 180° adder 68.Transmit system 70 produces the 0°, 90°, 180° and 270° phase-shiftedsignals using pulse generator/power amplifier subsystem 72 and 90° phaseshifter 74 in combination with TR switches 66 and 180° adders 68.Receive system 80 receives acoustic signals through 180° adders 68 andTR switches 66 and processes them in 90° adder 90 prior to processing inreceive electronics component 82, digital signal processing system 84and image display system 86.

The electronics configuration presented in FIG. 6B reduces the totalelectronics required in the system by combining transmit and receive180° phase-shifting operations. This system may provide a reduction ofsignal-to-noise ratio compared to the system illustrated in FIG. 6A. Oneway to perform the 180° phasing at the array is by connecting the 180°and 0° elements and the 90° and 270° degree elements, but with theconnections made to opposite polarity electrodes to reverse the polaritybetween those pairs of elements. Another way to achieve the 180° phasingis to use transformers.

Electronics configurations for different order acoustic array designs(e.g. m=⅛, m= 1/16, m=1/n), though not specifically described, will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art based on the descriptionsprovided herein and on well-known electronics design principles.

The arrays described above are periodic that is, they have constantspacing and/or phase shifting between neighboring elements. Periodicelement spacing (or a sampled spatial sinusoid) is not, however,essential to the function of a frequency-steered array. This is becauseaperiodic scaled aperture functions and matched filter banks can beemployed during signal processing to provide appropriate spatialfiltering. To understand the way in which an aperiodic frequency-steeredarray can be implemented, one must first look at the processing used toextract angle and range information. Received acoustic pulses aredecomposed, in time and frequency domains, to extract information inangular and down-range directions and generate useful images. After apulse has been transmitted, reflected from the target, and received, thebeam signals are decomposed from the broadband signal. The process ofdecomposing the time and frequency domains of received signals isreferred to herein as “time-frequency (TF) beamforming.” One of thesimplest methods of implementing a TF beamformer is to decompose narrowband digital time signals using STFT decomposition techniques, asdescribed below.

In conventional Fourier analysis, signals are compared to complex,continuous sinusoidal basis functions. Because these continuous basisfunctions are not localized in time, the conventional Fourier transformof a signal can provide information only on the spectral content of theentire signal. For example, a Fourier transform of a signal havinghigh-frequency energy at its beginning and low-frequency energy at itsend shows only that the signal contains high and low frequencies. Itdoes not show where in the signal these frequency components occur.However, sequential applications of Fourier transforms to short windowedportions of the signal may be employed to localize the signal's spectralcontent in time. This signal analysis technique is called a Short-TimeFourier Transform (STFT) and is described mathematically for a signals(t) asSTFT(t,ω)=∫s(τ)γ(τ−t)e ^(−jωt) dτ,  (9)where the function γ(t) is called the window function and is generallyselected to have short time duration to provide good temporalresolution. The selection of the window function also has a significantimpact on the spectral resolution of the STFT. In fact, resolution inboth time and frequency are coupled and are governed by thetime-frequency uncertainty principle. The time-frequency uncertaintyprinciple states that there is a fundamental limit to the precision withwhich the signal energy can be resolved simultaneously in both the timeand frequency domains.

The inherent limits to which the signal energy may be resolved in bothtime and frequency domains for a pulsed energy imaging system areexpressed by the Equation:

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\;\tau\;\Delta\;\omega_{d}} = \frac{1}{TB}} & (10)\end{matrix}$where T and B are the pulse duration and bandwidth, respectively, of thetransmitted pulse. Therefore, for a given duration-bandwidth product,the resolutions in time and frequency cannot both be made arbitrarilysmall. Generally, if the temporal resolution is improved, the spectralresolution declines, and vice versa. This is an important considerationwhen attempting to match time-frequency resolution to the physicaldiffraction and range resolution limitations of a frequency-steeredarray.

To process digitized receive signals, a discrete short-time fouriertransform DSTFT having the following properties may be applied:

$\begin{matrix}{{D\; S\; T\; F\;{T\left( {n,{\mathbb{e}}^{j\;\omega}} \right)}} = {\sum\limits_{m = \infty}^{\infty}\;{{s(m)}{\gamma\left( {m - n} \right)}{{\mathbb{e}}^{{- {j{(\omega)}}}{({m - n})}}.}}}} & (11)\end{matrix}$

The discrete STFT may be applied using a bank of narrow band digitalFinite Impulse Response (FIR) filters h_(f) (n) with bandwidthsdetermined by the window function γ(n) and center frequencies f suchthat whereDSTFT(n,e ^(jω))=s(n)*h _(f)(n)  (12)whereh _(f)(n)=γ(−n)e ^(jωn).  (13)

Application of a bank of FIR filters to a frequency-steered array signalgenerates a set of time-domain ‘beam’ signals whose center frequenciescan generally be correlated with steering directions given by Eq. (1)and diffraction-limited beam widths given by Eq. (2) (assumingTB_(f)≧1).

Although an FIR filter bank isolates the signal's energy into narrowbands, the DSTFT filters are not matched to the sub-pulses of the beamswhen a chirp transmit pulse is used. When a chirp transmit pulse isused, the frequency-steered array sub-pulses are narrow band portions ofthe chirp (or chirplets), while the ‘filters’ of an STFT are windowedsinusoids. The sub-pulses are the result of the frequency-steeredarray's spatial filtering characteristics on the transmitted pulseand/or the received pulse.

To illustrate this point, consider a planar wave front carrying a signals(t) traveling at a phase velocity c₀, and arriving from incidence angleθ. This wave front creates a signal in space s(r−tc₀) along thedirection of travel. If this wave front impinges on a linear aperturea(x) aligned with the x-axis, the wave front's signal will be physicallyconvolved with an effective aperture function scaled by sin(θ)

$\begin{matrix}{{{s_{blz}(t)} = {\int_{{- \frac{L}{2}}\sin\;\theta}^{\frac{L}{2}\sin\;\theta}{{a(r)}{s\left( {r - {tc}_{o}} \right)}\ {\mathbb{d}r}}}}{where}} & (14) \\{r = {x\;{{\sin(\theta)}.}}} & (15)\end{matrix}$

This convolution is analogous to the application of an FIR filter to thesignal. However, each angle corresponds to a scaled version of theoriginal aperture function observed at end-on incidence, θ=±π/2. Thefrequency-steered array acts as an angularly scaled, wavelets filterbank applied to signals arriving from different angles. Therefore, theoptimal beamformer is a filter bank matched to the transmit pulse andthe frequency-steered array aperture function. This optimal beamformeris generated by creating a wavelets filter bank based on thefrequency-steered array's aperture function that is scaled by the tracevelocity along the aperture c_(tr)=c₀/sin (θ) so thath _(a)(τ,θ)=a(τc _(tr)(θ))′.  (16)

This aperture filter bank is applied to the transmit pulse s_(xmt)(t) oflength T to generate a matched sub-pulse filter bank for each beam usingthe equation:

$\begin{matrix}{{h_{m}\left( {\tau,\theta} \right)} = {\int_{{- T}/2}^{T/2}{{h_{a}\left( {t,\theta} \right)}{s_{xmt}\left( {t - \tau} \right)}\ {{\mathbb{d}t}.}}}} & (17)\end{matrix}$

The aperture filter bank is applied to the transmit pulse only once ifthe frequency-steered array is used for only transmit or receive. It isapplied twice if the frequency-steered array is used on both transmitand receive. The full inherent diffraction-limited and bandwidth-limitedresolutions given by Eq. (2) and Eq. (3), respectively, can be achievedwhen using this type of beamformer.

This analysis leads to the important generalization that periodicspacing (or a sampled spatial sinusoid) is not critical to the functionof a frequency-steered array. This is because aperiodic aperture andmatched filter banks h_(m)(τ,θ) can be designed to provide appropriatespatial filtering. Frequency-steered arrays of the present invention maytherefore have aperiodic spacing between neighboring array elements, orbetween neighboring sets of array elements. Arrays may be aperiodicallyspaced, for example, in a spatially ‘frequency modulated’ pattern (e.g.continuously decreasing spacing along the array) or a spatially‘frequency hopped’ pattern (e.g. different spacing along differentsections of the array), or provided in arbitrary or pseudo-randomlyspaced arrangements.

An exemplary frequency-hopped array design is shown schematically inFIG. 7. In this array configuration, a first set of n elements 92 isarranged with constant spacing d₁ between the elements; a second set ofn elements 94 is arranged with a constant spacing d₂ between theelements; a third set of n elements 96 is arranged with a constantspacing d₃ between the elements, and so on. This frequency-hopped arrayconfiguration provides the advantage of resolving the ambiguitiesbetween signals arriving from different angles symmetric about thebroadside axis of the array because a scaled version of the array'saperture function is effectively convolved with the transmitted orreceived signal. The asymmetric array's aperture function appears to anincident pulse to be time-reversed between the two angles symmetricabout the broadside axis. To the extent that this scaled aperturefunction is uncorrelated with its equally-scaled and time-reversedaperture function, the symmetric, mirror image ‘lobe’ of the array canbe suppressed. One embodiment that provides a reduction of spatialfrequency side lobes is the spatially-frequency-hopped array design thatis analogous to the well-known ‘Barker coding’ used in transmitted pulsedesign.

Another aperiodically spaced frequency-steered array design of thepresent invention uses an arbitrary phase shift theta between two setsof elements. In this configuration, array elements are interleaved suchthat the phasing of adjacent elements may be 0°, θ°, 180°, θ+180° and soon. This array design produces successful imaging results using eithermatched filter pulses or STFT signal processing if the appropriatephasing (0°, θ°, 180°, θ+180° is applied to add the signals coherently.

Multiple order frequency-steered arrays may also be used in systems andmethods of the present invention and may be combined in the samefrequency-steered array. One combination that improves resolution andincreases the field of view for a single array is the combination of them=¼ and m=⅛ order array designs. In one embodiment, the same array isused to produce both orders, with different wiring being provided foreach order. This design provides an increased field of view using asingle array and the same bandwidth input signal. The main beam of them=⅛ mode complements the main beam of the m=¼ mode by sweeping over adifferent angular range for the same frequency band. The m=⅛ modeproduces half the angular width field of view of the m=¼ mode, but italso has twice the resolving power of the m=¼ mode because the m=⅛portion contains the same number of resolution cells spread over ½ theangular space. The m=¼ and m=⅛ modes generate two independent beams ateach frequency, which can be combined over a one-octave band to producea single, broader field of view. Additional array orders may be combinedand, with appropriate wiring, a plurality of array orders may beembodied in a single frequency-steered array.

Such multiple order arrays may employ a single array of elements withdifferent element wiring provided for operation in each order mode.FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate exemplary multiple order array elementconfigurations. FIG. 8A illustrates the use of interleaved subelementswithin each individual array element. In this embodiment, an arrayelement 100 is divided into a plurality of subelements 101-106 (sixshown) that are wired alternately, with a first set of interleavedsubelements 101, 103, 105 wired together and combined to provide the nthelement of the order “B” array and a second set of interleaved elements102, 104, 105 wired together and combined to provide an nth element ofthe order “A” array. FIG. 8B illustrates an embodiment in which eacharray element 100 is divided, with a first part 108 of the elementfeeding the order “A” array and a second part 110 of the element feedingthe order “B” array. FIG. 8C illustrates yet anther embodiment in whicheach array element 100 is switchable between two different order arrays.In this embodiment, when switch 112 is actuated, element 100 is wired asan order “A” array; when switch 114 is actuated, element 100 is wired asan order “B” array. The array function and switching between arrayorders may be programmed or programmable, or may be selectable by theoperator.

There are numerous ways frequency-steered array designs may beimplemented in 2D and 3D imaging systems, such as sonar systems andmethods utilizing a single or multiple arrays. The simplest design mayuse an m=½ or ¼ order array to generate a single field of view. Thisimplementation may be used, for example, to look in front of a vesseland image the bottom and water column in front of the vessel to detectnavigation hazards. Schematic diagrams illustrating various features ofthis implementation are shown in FIGS. 9A-9D, which show how a singlefrequency-steered array may be used in an underwater Obstacle DetectionSonar (ODS) system. By placing a frequency-steered array 120 in avertical orientation, with one of the array's imaging fields of view 122pointed forward, the system produces two-dimensional images of avertical slice of the area directly in front of the imaging system andprovides operators with information regarding potential obstacles infront of the system. The imaging field of view of this ODS systemmounted on a vessel is shown schematically in FIG. 9A. FIG. 9A shows howthe sonar's field of view 122 is oriented relative to a sensor platformmounted on a vessel 124 to provide images of the ocean floor andobstacles in front of the vessel 124. FIGS. 9C and 9D show a side viewand frontal view of the array 120 and its field of view 122,respectively. This single order, frequency-steered array provides a 25°field of view and is suitable for use in shallow water environments.

FIG. 10 shows a simplified schematic diagram illustrating of oneembodiment of a sonar imaging system using a frequency-steered array.The process flow for this system starts when either a processor ordisplay system 130, such as a computer or a dedicated display devicesends a request signal to sonar controller 132 via a digitalcommunications line. After receiving the request, sonar controller 132sends low voltage pulses to power amplifier 134, where they areconverted to high voltage analog pulses. The high voltage pulses travelto frequency-steered acoustic array 138 through a TR switch 136 thatisolates the low voltage receive electronics from the high voltagesignals. Frequency-steered acoustic array 138 in turn transforms thehigh voltage electrical signals into acoustic signals that are sent outinto the water. At this point, the receive side of the system isactivated. Frequency-steered acoustic array 138 first transforms anyreturned acoustic signals into low voltage electrical signals. These lowvoltage electrical signals pass through TR switch 136 to the receiveelectronics 140, where the signals are amplified, filtered, anddigitized. Once digitized, the return signals are read into sonarcontroller 132, where they are beam-formed into sonar images. The sonarcontroller then sends these images through the digital communicationsline to the processor or dedicated display 130, where they are eitherdisplayed or stored for later examination. Imaging systems of thepresent invention using various types of frequency-steered acousticarrays and array combinations, may be implemented using similar systemsconfigurations.

In another sonar system implementation illustrated in FIGS. 11A-D, afrequency-steered acoustic array 142 is configured to produce two ormore axisymmetric fields of view. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS.11A-11D, the two fields of view 144, 146 provide images that are forwardlooking and down looking, respectively, which is advantageous for marinenavigation and collision avoidance applications. This system providesboth the ODS images of FIG. 9A, and Down Looking Sonar (DLS) images thatshow instantaneous images of the slice of bottom below the array. The 3Drendering in FIG. 11A shows how the sonar's fields of view 144, 146 areoriented relative to a sensor platform mounted on a vessel 148. FIGS.11C and 11D show a side view and frontal view, respectively, of thearray and its fields of view. In this embodiment, two 25° fields of vieware provided in different orientations using a single frequency-steeredacoustic array.

Multiple frequency-steered arrays may also be employed in methods andsystems of the present invention. In one embodiment, two or morefrequency-steered arrays are oriented in an ‘X-configuration’ to providea wide field of view, with the output of each array contributing to acombined field of view. In an X-configuration, multiple arrays areoriented in the same steering plane with a fixed angular rotation of theconstituent array faces in the frequency-steering plane. The fixedorientation rotation angle between the faces of the respective arrays ispreferably between about 10° and 60° and, more preferably, between about15° and 45° and depends on the array order or combination of orders andthe bandwidth used. For example, when two, single order m=¼ periodicarrays are used, a single wide continuous field of view can be generatedby using a large bandwidth (greater than one octave) signal and byutilizing both fields of view on both arrays. Alternatively, threearrays could be used with smaller bandwidths to create wide, continuousfields of view.

FIGS. 12A-12D illustrate, schematically, the capabilities andarrangement of multiple frequency-steered arrays provided in anX-configuration. The alignments, orientations, and fields of view areillustrated for two m=½ or m=¼ arrays, but other array orders andcombinations of array orders may be used in multiple acoustic arraycombinations implemented in an X-configuration. FIG. 12B shows how twofrequency-steered acoustic arrays 150, 152 arranged in a horizontalX-configuration with the array faces at a 40° angle with respect to oneanother can be used in a Forward Looking Sonar (FLS) system to producetwo contiguous fields of view 154, 156 providing high-definition imagesof objects and bottom features in front of the sensor platform. The 3Drendering in FIG. 12A shows how the sonar's combined fields of view areoriented relative to the vessel the arrays are placed on and the bottomsurface 160. FIGS. 12C and 12D show a top view and side view of thearrays and their fields of view respectively. With proper angulararrangement of the arrays, the individual fields of view may be aligned,as shown, to provide a continuous, wide field of view. In thisembodiment, two individual 25° fields of view are combined to produce acontinuous, 50° field of view.

Although the X-configuration arrays are shown crossing near theirmidpoints, this is not necessary, and the arrays may cross one anotherat any point along their length. In other words, the crossing point ofthe arrays may be offset by some linear distance from the midpoint andstill produce the same effect. The X-configuration is particularlyeffective in a two array system when high frequency beams are placedcontiguously in the center of the overall field of view.

In addition to combining multiple, single order arrays in anX-configuration, two or more multiple-order arrays may also beimplemented to create a larger field of view that, in an X-configurationdual array combination, may be adjusted to provide a contiguous oroverlapping field of view with a single octave of bandwidth. FIG. 13Ashows the fields of view generated using a single, multi-order array162. It can be seen that the m=⅛ and m=¼ fields of view on either sideof a centerline are contiguous in this design. FIG. 13B illustrates howtwo of these multiple order arrays 164, 166 can be arranged in anX-configuration having a fixed angular rotation between the arrays,which provides a large, contiguous or slightly overlapping field ofview.

Another useful multiple array configuration employs multiplefrequency-steered arrays in a ‘T-configuration’ in which the individualarrays and fields of view are oriented orthogonal to each other andacquire imaging data in two dimensions. In this configuration, two ormore fan-shaped fields of view may be oriented to intersect such thatthe axes of frequency-steering are oriented orthogonal to each other.The array faces of multiple frequency-steered arrays arranged in aT-configuration are arranged at an angle to one another that, inpreferred embodiments, is less than 90°.

FIGS. 14A-D schematically illustrate several views of one arrangement inwhich two arrays are oriented in a T-configuration such that theirfields of view 174, 176, respectively, are oriented orthogonal to oneanother. FIG. 14A shows a top view looking down on a two T-configuredarrays. FIG. 14B shows a 3D rendering of the two frequency-steeredarrays 170, 172 having faces arranged at an acute angle to one another,in T-configuration producing fields of view 174, 176. FIGS. 14C and 14Dshow two side views of the T-configuration combination.

The multiple array T-configuration combination can be used inconjunction with the X-configuration by orienting the wider fields ofview created by the X-configuration in orthogonal planes, as shown inFIGS. 15A-15D. These figures show how the configurations of FIGS. 11 and12 may be combined to form a single imaging system that provides a userwith all three of the types of sonar images described so far: obstacledetection, down looking, and forward looking. As shown in FIG. 15B,frequency-steered arrays 180 and 182 may be operated to produce fieldsof view 184, 186, 188 and 190. The 3D rendering in FIG. 15A shows howthe multiple array configuration's fields of view are oriented relativeto a vessel 192 the arrays are placed on. FIG. 15C and FIG. 15D show aside view and top view, respectively, of the arrays and their field ofviews respectively.

The frequency-steering techniques and frequency-steered arrays of thepresent invention may also be used in conjunction with otherbeam-steering and beam forming techniques, such as mechanical steering,conventional electronic time-delay and phase shift beam forming, andphase comparison angle estimation techniques. Table 1, below, summarizesillustrative 2D and 3D acoustic imaging system embodiments that may beimplemented when combining frequency steering with other beam steeringmethodologies.

TABLE 1 Freq-steer Freq-steer Non-Freq-steer (single or multiple arrays)(single or multiple arrays) beam steering Orthogonal to ConventionalIn-plane with technique Technology Conventional Technology Conventional3D Incoherent rotational stacking 2D Incoherent overlay Mechanical ofimage slices 2D overlay coherent in range Rotation 3D Coherent -rotational synthetic direction aperture 2D overlay coherent in rangedirection and rotational synthetic aperture providing coherent-levelresolution in azimuth direction Conventional 3D Incoherent linearstacking of 2D Incoherent overlay Mechanical image slices 2D coherentoverlay in range Linear 3D Coherent linear synthetic 2D coherent overlayin range and (side look or aperture sonar (3D SAS) synthetic apertureforward look) Conventional 3D Incoherent stacking of slices 2DIncoherent overlay Electronic 3D Coherent - rotational synthetic 2Dcoherent overlay in range Rotational aperture 2D coherent overlay inrange and Beamforming synthetic aperture Conventional 3D Incoherentstacking of slices 2D Incoherent overlay Electronic 3D Coherent linearsynthetic 2D coherent overlay in range Translational aperture 2Dcoherent overlay in range and Beamforming synthetic apertureConventional Stacked array processing: 3D Split array processing: TargetElectronic image generation by estimating localization within a beam byPhase Comparison elevation angle in 2 or more beams choosing angle forgiven range bin Angle Estimation from 2 or more arrays

FIGS. 16A-F illustrate, schematically, frequency-steered acoustic arraysof the present invention used in exemplary combinations with mechanicalsteering techniques. The orientation of the mechanical scanning may bein a linear or rotational direction orthogonal to the frequency scanningplane or in the plane of the frequency-steered array. Thefrequency-steered arrays may be implemented with single-order arrays ormulti-order arrays that have periodic or aperiodic element spacingand/or phasing.

FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrate frequency-steered array embodiments inwhich mechanical scanning is implemented in a direction orthogonal tothe direction of the frequency-steered beams. FIG. 16A illustrates asingle frequency-steered planar array 200 combined with a rotationalmechanical beam steering mechanism 202 that can be used to collect 3Ddata sets by mechanically scanning vertical frequency-steered beams 204around an axis of rotation in a scanning motion 206. FIG. 16Billustrates a single frequency-steered planar array 200 combined with atranslational mechanical beam steering mechanism providing a scanningmotion 208 to produce a 3D data set using vertical frequency-steeredbeams 204. When mechanical scanning is implemented orthogonal to thedirection of frequency-steered beams, as is the case in the embodimentsexemplified in FIGS. 16A and 16B, multiple images from separatetransmissions can be combined incoherently by stacking in a rotationalor side-by-side manner (if linearly translated) to create a 3Dvolumetric data set. This data set can be processed to render 3D imagesof the target scene.

If the re-registration of a frequency-steered array scanned orthogonalto the frequency-steered plane is achieved at accuracies of less thanapproximately 20% of a wavelength, and if the array is offset from thecenter of rotation by some distance D_(rot)/2, the array sweeps acircular synthetic aperture with a diameter D_(rot). If an adequatenumber of pings are collected to provide sufficiently small spacing(e.g. <λ/2 of highest frequency) of the ‘synthetic elements’ of thesynthetic aperture and the re-registration is sufficiently accurate, thedata may be coherently processed to recover the full azimuth resolutionprovided by the circular synthetic aperture swept out by the array.Adequate re-registration for this coherent processing is relativelysimple to achieve on a platform that is stationary relative to theimaging scene (such as a bottom-mounted sonar). It is noted here that asimilar situation can be achieved with a straight line (or a known ormeasured arbitrary path).

FIGS. 16C and 16D illustrate frequency-steered array embodiments inwhich mechanical scanning is implemented in the frequency steering planeof the arrays. FIG. 15C illustrates two frequency-steered acousticarrays oriented in an X-configuration, providing a dual arraycombination 210 that produces a wide field of view horizontal beam 212.Dual array combination 210 may be combined with a rotational mechanicalbeam steering mechanism 214 that rotates the dual array combination in arotational scanning path 216 to produce a 2D data set. FIG. 16Dillustrates two frequency-steered acoustic arrays oriented in anX-configuration providing a dual array combination 210 that produces awide field of view horizontal beam 212 that may be combined with atranslational mechanical beam steering mechanism moving the dual arraycombination along a linear scanning path 218 to produce a 2D data set.

When implemented in this manner, the images may be combined incoherentlyby processing multiple overlain pixels (e.g. using the mean level) thatare re-registered to the accuracies better than one resolution cell.This improves the resolution and reduces speckle by effectivelyincreasing the bandwidth of the pixels (incoherently) as they are acombination of pixels generated by the bandwidths of multiple frequencydispersed beams when the overlay processing is completed. This techniqueproduces a 2D mosaic image having superior resolution and qualitycompared to an image produced by a single transmission imaging system.

If the re-registration can be achieved to accuracies of less thanapproximately 20% of a wavelength, then the pixels can be combinedcoherently and the full bandwidth of the system distributed overmultiple frequency-steered beams (and hence the full range resolution)can be recovered. Therefore, an m=¼ frequency-steered imaging systemusing one octave of bandwidth spread across approximately 20 beamsrecovers the full octave of bandwidth on each pixel with 20 independentrotated pings, where all twenty independent frequency beams have beenrotated onto the pixel in question. In addition, if the array is offsetfrom the center of rotation by some distance D_(rot), the array willsweep out a circular synthetic aperture with a radius D_(rot). If anadequate number of pings are collected to provide sufficiently smallspacing (e.g. <λ/2 of highest frequency) of the ‘synthetic elements’ ofthe synthetic aperture and the re-registration is sufficiently accurate,the data may be coherently processed to recover the full systembandwidth, and hence full range resolution, and the full azimuthresolution provided by the circular synthetic aperture swept out by thearray. Adequate re-registration for this coherent processing isrelatively simple to achieve on a platform that is stationary relativeto the imaging scene (such as a bottom-mounted sonar). This processingwill produce a 2D mosaic image with further enhanced resolution andquality compared to that of the incoherently processed and singletransmission images.

Mechanical steering techniques may also be used with T-configurationfrequency-steered arrays. This can be accomplished by combining multiplefrequency-steered arrays (either single order or multi-order) arrays ina T-configuration to provide a 3D scanning configuration and a 2Doverlay scanning configuration. This allows any combination of the 2Dand 3D multi-ping processing schemes described above to be implementedat the same time. FIG. 16E illustrates two frequency-steered arrays inT-configuration combination 220 mounted on a rotational mechanical beamsteering system 222 to produce intersecting fields of view 224. Thissystem may be used to generate 2D data sets and, when scanned in arotational scanning path 226, this system provides 3D data sets. FIG.16F illustrates two frequency-steered arrays arranged in T-configurationcombination 220 combined with a linear mechanical beam steeringmechanism capable of scanning the combination array 220 along a linearscanning path 228 to create 3D and 2D data sets.

Frequency-steered arrays may also be implemented in combination withconventional electronic beamforming techniques. This approach mayincorporate two-dimensional planar or curvilinear array designs whereinthe array elements in the dimension orthogonal to frequency-steering areused with conventional time and phase shifting or acoustic lensbeamforming techniques to create a 3D volumetric imaging system. Thesingle-order and multi-order frequency-steered arrays discussed abovemay also be implemented with phase comparison techniques that allowmeasurement of the angle of arrival between two overlapping beams whenthe phase shifts of the two narrow band returns are measured. Thiscombination of frequency-steering and phase comparison (i.e. phasemonopulse) may be implemented orthogonal to the frequency-steering planeor in the same plane as frequency-steering.

FIGS. 17A-D illustrates, schematically, a single field of view designemploying a two dimensional circular frequency-steered array 230 alignedon a plane canted from the vertical producing a field of view 236 andmechanically rotated through a sweep angle 232 along a sweep path 234 togenerate a 3D volumetric data set. The sweep angle may be programmedinto a device implementation, or it may be programmable or selectable bythe user. In this particular system, a frequency-steered array ismounted vertically with one of its fields of view pointed forward. Arotating motor is then used to scan the array's vertical 2D field ofview over a given rotation angle. At multiple angles within therotation, 2D images are collected. Finally, the separate 2D images arecombined to form a single 3D image of an area scanned. The 3D renderingin FIG. 16A shows how the scanned fields of view through sweep path 234are oriented relative to a vehicle 238 the array is placed on. FIGS. 16Cand 16D show a top view and side view of the array and its scanned fieldof view respectively.

Perhaps one of the most versatile combinations of conventional andfrequency-steering techniques is the combination frequency-steering andphase shifting or time shifting (sometimes called true time delaybeamforming) techniques. FIG. 18 shows a schematic diagram illustratingthe operation of a combined frequency-steered and time-delay beamformedplanar array 240 of the present invention. The illustrated array 240 isa two dimensional array and may be provided in a square, rectangular,circular, oval, or any number of other candidate configurations. Acircular configuration is advantageous for many applications because theproduced beam pattern has low side lobe levels. The two dimensionalarray may be implemented to provide frequency steering in the verticaldirection and time-delay beamforming in the horizontal direction and, inthis embodiment, creates a 3D volumetric field of view composed of a 3Dset of conical beams 242.

In this embodiment, conventional beamforming techniques are used tofocus and steer beams horizontally to create images on each of a set offrequency-steered imaging planes. Multiple arrays arranged in X- and/orT-configurations may also be implemented with two planar arrays operatedto provide both frequency steering and time-delay beamforming indifferent directions to produce 3D volumetric data sets that can beprocessed to generate 3D images. The combination of frequency-steeringand phase shifting or time shifting (sometimes called true time delaybeamforming) techniques may be implemented with both single-order andmulti-order arrays.

FIG. 19 illustrates a partially conical curvilinear array 246implemented using a combination of frequency steering in the verticaldimension and conventional beamforming (phase shift or time delay)techniques in the orthogonal (cylindrical) dimension. Thisimplementation also produces 3D volumetric data sets composed of conicalbeams 248 that are processed to generate 3D images. As in the embodimentshown in FIG. 18, this embodiment uses conventional beamformingtechniques to focus and steer beams horizontally to create image on eachof a set of frequency-steered imaging planes. However, the conical shapeprovides an increase field of view and improved uniformity in thehorizontal direction.

FIGS. 20A-D schematically illustrate an exemplary array designimplementing a two-dimensional curvilinear array 250 having a truncatedcone configuration frequency-steered and conventionally beamformed togenerate a 3D volumetric field of view 252 during a singletransmit/receive cycle that provides 3D images during singletransmit/receive cycles. The horizontal field of view may be programmedinto a device implementation or selectable by the user. The curvedconical frequency-steered array surface is operated to provide a 3Dfield of view and, in combination with conventional horizontalbeamforming, provides a wide field of view 3D volumetric data set thatprovides high resolution 3D images. The 3D rendering of FIG. 20A showshow the sonar's field of view 252 is oriented relative to a sensorplatform mounted on a vessel 254. FIG. 20C and FIG. 20D show a top viewand side view of the array and its field of view, respectively.

FIG. 21 illustrates a dual conical curvilinear array implementation. Thedual conical curvilinear array 260 is arranged with the wider portionsof the respective conical arrays proximate one another is analogous todual planar arrays arranged in an X-configuration. This dual curvilineararray configuration may be implemented with single order arrays (e.g.m=¼) or with multi-order arrays (e.g. m=¼ & m=⅛). As with theX-configuration in the 2D imaging arrays, the multi-order implementationmay combine the multiple vertical fields of view to create one largevertical field. This design provides very wide fields of view in thevertical and horizontal dimensions. The biconical shape provides anincreased field of view and improved uniformity in the horizontaldirection and a wide vertical field of view.

In addition, all of the array designs and implementations disclosedherein may be acoustically focused for transmission or receptionpurposes by mechanical shaping of the transmitted and/or received beams,by implementation of acoustic lenses or electronic phasing or timeshifting techniques, or using a combination of these techniques. Thesetechniques, combined with the use of frequency-steered arrays, may beuse to create high intensity focal points for steered application ofhigh intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). HIFU can be used for variousmedical and commercial applications. Focusing can also be used inimaging to improve the imaging of a frequency-steered array in the nearfield. For instance, a fixed mechanically focused lens can be placed infront of a frequency-steered array and oriented to place the focal zonein the center of the imaging field of view to allow near field,frequency-steered imaging. Focusing can be used with any of the combinedfrequency-steering and mechanical scanning or conventional beamformingtechniques discussed previously.

It will be understood that the foregoing descriptions of variousembodiments of methods and systems of the present invention are merelyillustrative of the invention and its varied embodiments. Modificationsto various aspects of the methods and systems of the present inventionwill be apparent to those skilled in the art and are intended to fallwithin the scope and purview of this disclosure and the followingclaims.

We claim:
 1. A method for generating three dimensional images of anunderwater target scene, comprising: providing (a) a multi-beam acousticimaging system including an array combination comprising at least twofrequency steerable arrays, wherein each array is aligned on an axis andcomprises an array face, and the at least two frequency steerableacoustic arrays are arranged with their axes oriented at an angle to oneanother and with their array faces aligned on different planes withrespect to one another and produce a combined, wide continuous field ofview, and (b) a mechanical beam scanning mechanism mounted for scanningthe array combination; collecting a plurality of two-dimensional datasets of the underwater target scene by mechanically scanning acousticbeams along a path oriented substantially orthogonal to the direction ofbeam steering; combining multiple two-dimensional data sets to generatea three dimensional data set; and processing the three dimensional dataset to render a three dimensional image of the underwater target scene.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mechanical beam scanning mechanismis a rotational mechanism.
 3. The method of claim 2, additionallycomprising combining multiple images from separate transmissionsincoherently by stacking them in a rotational manner to provide thethree dimensional data set.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein themechanical beam scanning mechanism is a translational mechanism.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, additionally comprising combining multiple imagesfrom separate transmissions incoherently by stacking them in aside-by-side manner to provide the three dimensional data set.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least two frequency steerable arraysof the array combination are arranged with their axes oriented at anangle to one another in an X-configuration.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the array axes are arranged at an angle of between about 10° andabout 60° to one another.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least oneof the frequency steerable arrays has an order selected from the groupconsisting of m= 1/2 , m= 1/4 ,m=⅛, m= 1/16 and in m=1/n, wherein m isthe number or fraction of coherent wavelengths between two consecutiveelements of the acoustic transducer array and n is any positive ornegative number.